Onyx Eyes
by Niemand5
Summary: His eyes fascinate me. As if the answer to the universe is hidden in the depths of his onyx, sky blue eyes.


**Onyx Eyes**

People fascinate me. There, I've said it. I always wish I could find out more about the students that surround me. I don't really care if I'm their friend or not, or if I even want to be their friend, I still want to learn about them. Just little things like what their name is or what their opinion of Quidditch is. Every person is so different from the next I always wonder what _they're_ like as opposed to what their friends are like.

I suppose maybe a bit of the knowledge seeker in me is responsible for this. I'd hate to not know someone's name because that would be something I don't know and therefore a source of embarrassment. But it's also because I just enjoy learning about people. And if I know more about a person I can use my information on them to treat them in a more according manner. Like if they love Quidditch I'll ask them what they're favorite team is and if they like football I'll ask if they play it during the summer.

All of these factors have caused me to not only know the name of every student in my grade but to also know a bit about them. Not much, nowhere near the levels of knowledge a friend possesses, but just a bit. Well, perhaps I am fudging the truth slightly. I know almost nothing about the Slytherins of my year, only their names. I don't particularly want to learn about people that hate me simply because my parents are Muggles. So despite my knowledge of the Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Gryffindors of my year I know almost nothing about the Slytherins. And really that's just fine with me. Or at least it was. Perhaps I should take you back in time a bit. After the battle in the Department of Mysteries I started looking towards the Slytherins differently. Not more positively, goodness no, but rather with a more pessimistic view. For example, when I passed someone in the hallways I knew to be a Slytherin I'd think "I wonder if you're going to grow up to be a Death Eater" or if it was the son of a Death Eater I had fought in that battle I'd think "Your father tried to stun me, but it didn't work and now he's in Azakaban." They weren't nice things to think, and I think somewhere I knew that but I couldn't see the harm too much. After all, I was probably right and it's not like the Slytherin would know what I was thinking.

Or at least that's what I used to think. Harry, Ron, and I were walking to our next class one day, as usual, when we passed by a Slytherin. They didn't give it a second thought but I turned and looked at the tall boy whom I recognized as Theodore Nott. Dark brown hair and eyes darker than onyx, that was how I recalled him. I also remembered that he had a Death Eater father who had been at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. Right before I could think a single word about him he turned and looked at me, as if sensing my gaze. His light blue eyes narrowed in suspicion and I suddenly felt very exposed, as if I was completely transparent. What would he say if he knew what I was thinking, what I had been thinking about many Slytherins? It suddenly struck me right then how prejudiced those thoughts were. Who was I to judge a Slytherin I didn't know? They judged me, no, _some_ of them judged me, but that didn't give me the right to be prejudice against the whole house.

I couldn't tear my eyes from Theodore Nott's as he passed me. Those eyes ripped right through me. He kept walking and finally as the distance grew between us he turned back around with one last narrowing of his onyx eyes and was swallowed by the surrounding Slytherins.

I had stopped walking. I hadn't even realized it; I had just stopped everything to watch that Slytherin boy with the onyx eyes. I kept staring at his back as he progressed further and further down the hall. Finally Ron and Harry realized I wasn't with them. They came back and asked if something was wrong. I responded "no" but I couldn't stop staring at the spot where he had been mere moments before. With one last glance backwards I allowed myself to be dragged to my next class.

The next day we passed each other in the hallways again. The boy with the onyx eyes. Theodore Nott. I looked at him and he met my gaze, eyes narrowed with suspicion once more. I didn't care that his eyes held a hostile aspect, I couldn't tear my gaze away. I knew he probably thought me odd but I couldn't stop looking at his light blue eyes. And then, once again, he kept walking as I stopped in my tracks. With one last questioning glare of his onyx eyes he was swallowed again by the surrounding Slytherins.

Every day this happened. For how long, I don't know. I forgot all of the judgmental things I had ever thought about Slytherins, I even stopped paying attention to Malfoy's insults. All I cared about now was staring into this onyx-eyed boy's sky-blue eyes one more time. I didn't understand why I craved this so badly, or why it seemed like his eyes changed colors, all I knew was that somewhere in his eyes there was the answer to everything. To some aspect it frustrated me that I was never sure what color his eyes were, and that he always kept walking.

Finally, one time, he stopped. Just stopped dead in his tracks and stared back into my eyes. At first I thought I saw a glimpse of annoyance in those sky-blue eyes of his but it disappeared and was replaced by something I could not name. Perhaps resignation? Or wondering? I do not know. All I know is that he stopped and returned my stare. People kept walking through the hallways but I swore time had stopped.

"What do you want, Granger?"

I didn't know what to say. I wanted the answers to the universe, I wanted prejudice and discrimination to stop, I wanted Lord Voldemort to fall, I wanted to look into his eyes and never stop. I kept gazing into his eyes and didn't say anything.

"What do you want, Granger?" he repeated. I swore his voice had a softer, gentler quality to it this time, but perhaps it was just my imagination.

I didn't say anything for a moment. "I want to know what color your eyes are."

The expression on his face didn't change. People kept bustling past us. "They're blue," he finally responded. "A light blue."

"They're onyx sometimes," I quietly stated as my defense for not knowing what color his eyes were. "But only from far away," I added.

He nodded slowly. "You can choose to judge someone from afar, on preconceptions and first impressions, or you can choose to come closer and learn more about them."

We kept staring at each other. People kept bustling past. And we kept staring at each other.

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Hermione Granger, Hogwarts, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Theodore Nott or Quidditch. So don't sue me.

A/N: Nott's eyes are based on this kid's eyes in my summer school class so don't say it isn't possible. I swear, I have no idea what color his eyes really are. Sometimes they look dark, and sometimes they look light.Oh, and I'd really appreciate constructive criticism on this piece so please review.


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